#629
It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will
bear no fruit because there is no winter there.
JOB 1
Another of our grouping of five books; Proverbs, James, Job,
Ecclesiastes and Jude. This book can be a help to you if you wish
to learn a great secret from God. It has been a blessing to many
believers. In fact, it has been the turning point in the spiritual
life of some. It is the only book in the Bible which deals
exclusively with the life of one person. We must not forget that
God interests Himself about a soul!
This makes it very personal. The build-up of the story takes 41
chapters, while the point of the book is packed into a few verses
in the last. If you were to read only this last chapter, you would
get very little of the powerful message which the Lord has for us.
Remember that most of the 41 chapters are the thoughts of men.
Taken by themselves, these thoughts are often not correct. But
they are necessary in order to get the whole point of God's
message. For instance in 21:17 Job says "God distributeth sorrows
in His anger".
Do you think this is true? No, it is not, but this is what Job
said at that particular time. If Job was such a good man, how
could God find any fault in him? If Job was a bad man, how could
God allow him to say such a dreadful thing and let him get away
with it? What was wrong with him? Around these questions, the
whole book is built. God alone saw what was wrong in Job. If you
learn the answers and apply them in your own life, you will be a
happy Christian to the end of your days on earth.
Job 1:1-5 Notice (a) how good he was, (b) that he feared God,
(c) that he eschewed (kept away from) evil, (d) that God had given
him the perfect number (7) of sons, (e) how rich he was, (f) how
great he was, (g) that he offered sacrifices to God for his
children (rising early) just in case they sinned, (h) that he kept
up this life regularly. What is God trying to show us? We'll see!
Job 1:6-12 The angels are here in the presence of the Lord;
Satan is among them. At first we might be surprised to find Satan
here in God's presence and with the other angels of God. But it
helps us to understand when we realize that God hasn't yet acted
in judgment in putting down evil. In the future, Satan is going to
be cast out of the heavens. (Rev. 12:7-9) Another thing to notice:
In the beginning and end of this book the name "the Lord" is used,
the middle part "God". "The Lord" appears 16 times in the first 2
chapters.
The Lord draws the attention of Satan to Job, saying of him the
exact words used in the first verse. Satan replies that the reason
why Job feared God was because God was so kind to him, and that if
all these things were taken away he would be like anyone else, and
would curse God to His face. The Lord gives Satan the power to
trouble Job, and surely he does. But we'll see that all Satan's
accusations against Job fail.
Job 1:13-22 The blows fall. He loses everything. And it is
recorded of him that in all this he didn't sin.
#630
When Christ reveals Himself there is satisfaction in the
slenderest portion, and without Christ there is emptiness in the
greatest fulness.
JOB 2
Job 2:1-10 In God's presence again, Satan says that if he were
allowed to touch Job's body, he would curse Him. The Lord allows
Satan to go further (God controls how far Satan can go in
attacking us). Satan was not allowed to kill Job.
Job 2:11-13 Job's three friends hear of the disasters, and come
to visit him. Notice what they did for seven days! What a sight
Job must have been. Your mind is possibly full of thoughts as to
why God would be so unkind to Job when he was so good. If you are
reasoning like that, then it may be that the Lord has a message
for you too. Many of us are very thankful that the Lord has spoken
to us through Job.
#631
The most tremendous judgment of God in this world is the
hardening of the hearts of men.
JOB 3
Today we commence to hear the thoughts of Job, and his friends.
You will have to remind yourself over and over again, that these
thoughts are Job's, not God's. You will notice that Job seems to
feel that he is right and that God is wrong; he is defending
himself. Job commences by saying that he is sorry that he had been
born. (But we are glad that he was!) He thinks God is against him,
because all his thoughts were from and about himself.
Job 3:25-26 When everything had been going well, he had fears
that something like this was going to happen! In other words, he
did not have peace in his soul. He was uneasy, all was not well.
He was correct. You see, he was good outwardly, but not in God's
sight; we will only find the answer at the end.
#632
Not only the worst of my sins, but the best of my duties speak
me a child of Adam.
JOB 4
One of the visitors, Eliphaz, answers. We must all admit that
these were wise men by the world's standards, but one thing they
lacked was they didn't know God's thoughts. Each of the three
following men has a different arguing point. This man is going on
personal experience and so he is not going to tell us anything
more than the human mind can think.
Job 4:1-6 He says that while Job had been giving advice to
everyone and helping them in their troubles, when disaster came to
him, he got all upset.
Job 4:7 He asks if Job ever heard of an innocent person
suffering. What he really meant was that Job must not be innocent,
or this trouble would not have come to him!
Job 4:8 "I have seen". He was going on human experience. This
never helps the believer spiritually. "The world by wisdom knew
not God" 1 Cor. 1:21.
Job 4:12-21 Next he tells of a dream, or a vision he had. It
had upset him a great deal. It sounds as if it could have been
Satan whom he saw. It all is a criticism of God's work, that God
just destroys men as quickly as He creates them, and there is no
alternative.
#633
Our mind is where our pleasure is, our heart is where our
treasure is, our love is where our life is, but all these, our
pleasure, treasure, and life, are reposed in Jesus Christ.
JOB 5
This man Eliphaz continues with his own thoughts which he had
drawn from his own experience. The wiser these sound, the more
wicked they are, because they fool people. What he is saying here
is that everything which happens to us is caused by something
which we have done. So in verse 17 he says that God is correcting
people. By this he was suggesting that Job needed to correct his
life. He tells him to cheer up, in the end everything would come
out well. Isn't that what the world says today?
#634
When sin is your burden, Christ will be your delight.
JOB 6
Job is going to argue about this, so the chapter starts with
"But Job". All the words in the 48 verses which he had just heard
brought him nothing but more sorrow.
Job 6:14 He is feeling more sorry for himself every day.
Job 6:24 He is searching himself to see if there is any little
fault in him. Poor Job.
#635
To argue from mercy to sin is the devil's logic.
JOB 7
Job continues his self-centered talk. For many times in these
21 verses he speaks the words "I, me, my, myself".
Job 7:19 He wants to be away from God.
Job 7:20 He flashes out this statement "I have sinned", after
defending everything he had done (verse 24 of yesterday's
chapter). He is lashing out in all directions.
#636
It is a destructive addition to add anything to Christ
JOB 8
The second visitor - Bildad, now speaks. His line is different
from the thoughts of Eliphaz. This man's arguments are that we
must rely on tradition. Everything which is old is right (verse
8). You hear many people speaking like this today. They say "I am
going to stick to my grandfather's religion".
Job 8:20 But here is where such thoughts led to. "God will not
cast away a perfect man". So all we need to be is perfect and He
will be satisfied with us. What a terrible thing to say!
#637
Nothing is more contrary to a heavenly hope than an earthly
heart.
JOB 9
Job's reasoning gets more bitter. He agrees with yesterday's
speaker that a man should be perfect before God! (What a foolish
thought). But he does not know how he can be more perfect than he
is.
Job 9:4 He reasons something like this - "Who ever won when
they argued with God?"
Job 9:5-14 God is too powerful and too busy to listen to Job,
he thinks.
Job 9:16 Even if God would take time to listen to him, Job says
that he would not believe it!
Job 9:17 God punishes him when there is no reason for it! Not
very nice to think that!
Job 9:18 God fills him with bitterness, or so he reasons.
Job 9:20 Even if he should consider himself perfect, then there
would be something else wrong. "You can't win", is really what he
is saying.
Job 9:22 He says that God destroys both the perfect and the
wicked alike!
Job 9:23 That God laughs at our troubles.
Job 9:30-31 He just could not please God no matter what he did.
(Aren't we thinking along those lines sometimes?)
Job 9:32-35 He says that he would have a better chance if God
were a man. Or even if there were someone who could come between
them! (Read what God had done about this point in 1 Timothy 2:5).
#638
If the guilt of sin is so great that nothing can satisfy it but
the blood
of Jesus; and the filth of sin is so great that nothing can
fetch out the
stain thereof but the blood of Jesus, how great, how heinous,
how sinful
must the evil of sin be.
JOB 10
Job 10:1-14 Job keeps up his accusations against God, but it
does not make his thinking any clearer. Read the next verse to
find where all this talk was leading him.
Job 10:16-22 He gets more bold.
Job 10:21-22 These verses remind us of the world into which the
Lord Jesus came. And it is still in darkness.
#639
A man may be theologically knowing and spiritually ignorant.
JOB 11
The third friend, Zophar - now speaks. We remember that the
first one - Eliphaz, used the experiences of life as the bases of
his arguments. The second one, Bildad - used tradition as his,
this one uses law and religiousness as his starting point.
Job 11:3 He asks Job some questions - should Job's lying tricks
be left unanswered, and should not someone try to shame Job when
he mocked God?
Job 11:6 This man suggests that God was letting Job off easily!
Job 11:14-15 His idea is that if Job were good and religious,
he would have no fear.
Job 11:16-20 His theme is no more comforting to Job than any
other worldly ideas.
#640
It is the happiness of heaven to have God be all in all.
JOB 12
Job 12:2 Job replies sarcastically. He told them that when they
died wisdom would die with them!
Job 12:3 But he comes right back, by saying that he had his
ideas too! He is not going to take a second place. There wasn't
much humbleness!
Job 12:9-25 He launches into another criticism of God's ways.
He says that God does just what He wants and there is no reason
for His actions. He is not consistent (verse 20).
#641
Pride is the shirt of the soul, put on first and put off last.
JOB 13
Job 13:3 Job wants to reason with God, but not to listen to
Him.
Job 13:4-6 He does not think much of the advice he is
receiving, does he?
Job 13:15 This sounds good, but is it? Notice the second part,
he is quite determined to argue for his own ways. He was trusting
himself, and not God.
Job 13:18 Such verses prove what was in his heart. He was quite
satisfied that he was right.
Job 13:19 He would die if he stopped talking, he says!
Job 13:20-28 You can plainly see that Job is still filled with
self- confidence. He is not ready to surrender.
#642
The world rings changes, it is never constant but in its
disappointments. The world is but a great inn, where we are to
stay a night or two, and be gone; what madness is it so to set our
heart upon our inn, as to forget our home?
JOB 14
Job often comes back to his first desire - to die. And he goes
so far as to say that when people die they never rise again! He
says that there is more hope for a tree, because sometimes it
sprouts again, but not so for man! Now you are beginning to see
inside Job's heart. Outwardly (to the appearance of people), Job
was correct and perfect. But what about his heart toward God? You
can see now what God is doing. Bringing him to the end of himself,
but he has a long, long way to go. And so it is with us. God deals
with us over a long period of time.
#643
All of the stones that came about Stephen's ears did but knock
him closer to Christ, the corner-stone.
JOB 15
You will notice that Job's friends have three turns to speak.
Here we listen to the first man again - Eliphaz. This was the man
in chapter 4 who was basing his arguments on personal experience.
What he had seen (verse 17 of today's chapter). Most people in the
world today are doing exactly the same.
Job 15:17-35 So here he is telling Job that God is not fooled.
Wicked people suffer. He gives a long talk on all the things which
happen to wicked people. He seems to be trying to convince Job
that he is getting exactly what his life deserved!
#644
The flowers smell sweetest after a shower; vines bear the
better for bleeding; the walnut-tree is most fruitful when most
beaten; saints spring and thrive most internally, when they are
most externally afflicted.
JOB 16
But Job denies all this. In verse 17 he claims that there is
nothing wrong with his life. Even his prayer is pure. He says the
reason is that God hates him! (Verse 9). Do you think this was the
reason?
Job 16:21 He feels that God is far away from him. All this is
necessary to bring Job down.
#645
It is truth alone that capacitates any soul to glorify God.
JOB 17
Job still tries to justify himself.
Job 17:8-9 Four groups of good people, Job says, will see that
it is worth trying to be good and that they will try harder.
Job 17:11-16 But Job returns to his depression, and waits for
death.
#646
Sin hath the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and
death for
its wages.
JOB 18
Bildad has his second turn to speak. He is the one that depends
on traditions. What is old is good, he thinks, (like many people
today!)
Job 18:2-4 He again attacks Job. He does not like to listen...
talking is his specialty.
Job 18:5-21 His answer to Job's problems is that wicked people
always suffer - Job is suffering - therefore Job must be wicked.
Job 18:18 His idea of the end of the wicked! They shall be
chased out of the world!
Job 18:9-21 He comes back to his first thoughts. To have a good
reputation so that the next generation will look up to you. In
other words - tradition.
#647
Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but
glorious sins.
JOB 19
Job 19:1-6 The more the men spoke to Job, the worse he felt.
And he has just heard the worst speech! Job replies, and its not
good either. They were justifying themselves and condemning Job.
So he starts to condemn them! But he admits that God has thrown
him over.
Job 19:7-20 If it was any comfort for them to know, he
confesses that his trouble comes from God's hand. Job feels that
every person he ever knew has turned against him. His close
friends have forgotten him. Even the maids in his house consider
him a stranger, and pay no attention to him. Job calls to a
servant, and he won't answer him. Even his wife is like a stranger
to him, and the little children have no use for him.
Job 19:21-22 He cries out for mercy.
Job 19:23-24 It is rather strange, but this is exactly what has
happened!
Job 19:25-29 He makes this remarkable admission, and yet it has
such little effect on him.
#648
Suppose a Christian turned his back on the light; what then?
Then the light will shine upon his back!
JOB 20
Now Zophar, the third friend, speaks for the second time. He
comes out with his philosophy and it is very empty. The thoughts
of many well-educated people today are exactly the same. In verse
4, he says that this wisdom has been held since man was put on the
earth.
Job 20:5-29 And so he proceeds to say that the wicked are soon
cut off, and the joy of the hypocrite is only for a short time. Is
this correct? No it is not. For we know some who have been wicked
people all their life, and they have lived to an old, old age. By
all this he is trying to prove that Job must be guilty. He could
not possibly suffer like this if there was not a cause. Poor Job.
Not much comfort in these thoughts.
#649
Giving to the Lord, and in His name, to others is not something
that we do; it is the result of what we are.
JOB 21
Up until this point Job has not been willing to admit that
anything his friends have said was right. But here we notice a
change.
Job 21:1-13 The argument goes on and on, as to whether the
wicked people live long. Job says that they have a happy life.
Job 21:13 But he admits that suddenly they die. (Do you think
that there is any sense in the arguments of these men? Do you
think that the wicked get away with things in this life? Yes, they
do).
Job 21:14-15 This is what the wicked say in their heart.
Job 21:16 But Job is quick to tell us that he is not like them!
Job 21:17-34 Here is where Job admits a bit of the arguments of
Zophar, that the wicked get cut off suddenly. But he says that God
does this because He gets angry at them. We can notice slight
changes in Job. He begins to allow that there was some truth in
what they were saying, but not much.
#650
Each Christian has his own ministry to fulfill, and no
Christian is competing with any other Christian in the will of
God.
JOB 22
We hear Eliphaz for the third and last time. He is angry now at
Job.
Job 22:2 He tries to prove that how a man acts does not affect
God.
Job 22:4 "Is God afraid of you!" he asks.
Job 22:5 Job has always been insisting that he is innocent.
Here Eliphaz says that to say this is a great wickedness.
Job 22:6-30 He accuses Job of hidden evil. But he goes farther
than the truth. For Job was never like what he describes him as in
verses 6, 7 and 9.
Job 22:21 This man Eliphaz is so proud he calls on Job to get
to know God! Job knew God better than Eliphaz, although he has yet
to learn his mistake.
#651
It is well to beware of anything that magnifies the attainments
of man, thereby obscuring grace.
Job 23
So far as Job's outward life is concerned, he does not have a
bad conscience. His so-called comforters were always trying to
convince Job that there must be some hidden sins in his life which
were causing all this trouble. But here he answers these charges.
(We must remember that Job has not yet made the great discovery.
But so far as his life before men is concerned, it is faultless).
He knew God far better than his friends did. He longed to be
closer to God.
Job 23:10 He did not know all this would bring glory to God,
but he did know that he was not a hypocrite.
Job 23:12 Beautiful words. God's word was more important to him
than his daily food!
#652
Read the Word of God. Not to acquire knowledge, but to obey it!
JOB 24
This is an interesting chapter. Job touches on a subject that
you probably have often wondered about. Why are the wicked people
allowed to get away with things?
#653
Believers are never told to "become one"; they are one! And we
are to act like it.
JOB 25
Next comes Bildad for the last turn. He has very little to say
now. A few remarks about the wonderful power of God. He is very
depressing, although all that he says is true. Did it meet Job's
need? No indeed, nor can any earthly wisdom ever help us to know
God.
#654
If one believer is more spiritual than another, it is because
he values the Person of Christ more. All power for Christian walk
and testimony depends upon the appreciation of Christ.
JOB 26
Job goes much farther, and does a much better job of telling
about God's power than Bildad did. And he does not just speak of
the things which can be seen, but he describes the things of the
unseen world. But although Job could speak this way, there was one
question in Job's mind which he could not solve and that was...
Why would God, Who is so great and he, a man so small and
unimportant, take the trouble to bother. Just let the man alone.
Underneath all Job's thoughts was the uneasy sense that he was not
suffering from just the ordinary circumstances which were going
against him, but that it was God Who was dealing with him. He was
right and his friends therefore could not help him because they
were not realizing that God had a wonderful plan in the whole
affair.
#655
It is the very nature of the newborn soul to love not only God,
but those who are begotten of Him. This love knows no sectarian
limitation, but embraces all the people of God.
JOB 27
In this chapter Job takes up another subject. Not the glory of
God, as yesterday, but the unhappiness of the hypocrite, and his
awful doom at the end of his life. He was really doing a much
better job of describing the hypocrite than the others had done.
He uses very colourful language.
#656
Every act of service should have the perfume of the incense -
the savor of worship in it.
JOB 28
Are you beginning to get the purpose God has for giving us the
Book of Job? God is using Job to teach us that He wants all His
children to enjoy Him. And the only way we can learn this is in
doing two things every day.
(1) To judge myself and stop doing the things I know don't
please Him, and (2) to submit to God. Job hasn't learned this yet,
and so in this chapter he keeps on trying, just like he is telling
his friends that people can do great things but they can't
understand God.
Job 28:1-11 Job describes man's struggles in this life. People
search after gold and precious stones of every kind. They move
mountains, change the courses of rivers (think of what science is
doing today!) They can do many wonderful things, but these
solutions don't give them the answers to the questions in verse
12.
Job 28:13-19 All the treasures buried in the world cannot
produce it.
Job 28:21, 27 Death itself does not have the answer. God now
leads towards the answer.
Job 28:28 And here it is. Read this verse. Then read 1 Cor.
1:30. Are we finding the answers to our problems in these two
verses too? There is no other answer. Though Job tells this, he
doesn't apply it to himself... Is this why we don't understand
too?
#657
It is the subject believer who becomes fruitful.
JOB 29
The third man, Zophar is silent. Bildad had little to say last
time (chapter 25). These three men are defeated, even by sick and
suffering Job. They are more vexed at their failure than they are
humbled! Job has the field to himself, and he uses it. Many times
in the chapter, he uses the words, "I" "me", or "my". He tells us
all about the "good old days". He thereby is showing us that he is
no farther ahead in learning God's message than the other 3 men.
Job 29:11 When people listened to him! When people looked at
him! This verse is going to be referred to when we come to the
great event at the end.
#658
The moment the Christian looks at himself as in Christ there is
no "if"; but when the Christian is looked at as in the wilderness,
there are "ifs"; not that there is the smallest doubt, but to
bring in dependence.
JOB 30
Here Job contrasts all yesterday's good days to his present
dark days. He mentions himself 62 times and takes six more verses
to describe the sad days than the glad ones.
Who is he only thinking about? There is no doubt that Satan is
making him feel sorry for himself. He does the same to us
believers if we don't learn the lesson this Book is going to teach
us at the end.
#659
There is no way of keeping in close touch with God unless a new
step is taken in advance whenever new light is given.
JOB 31
Today Job makes a grand defense of himself, taking 40 verses to
do it. He protests that he is innocent by using the following
arguments.
Job 31:1 He was moral.
Job 31:3-12 He was just and fair with other people.
Job 31:13 He was nice to his servants.
Job 31:15-20 Kind to the poor.
Job 31:21 Never took advantage of orphans.
Job 31:24-25 Did not love money.
Job 31:26-28 Hated worshipping other gods (like the sun).
Job 31:29-30 Never took revenge.
Job 31:31-34 Was kind to strangers, and afraid of no-one.
Job 31:38-40 If his fields could claim he was cruel, then let
thorns come up in them. Do you think such a man could ever learn
the lesson God was trying to teach him? Wait.
#660
We often deceive ourselves buy concluding that because
we steer clear of certain evils we are preserved in capability and
fitness for service in the field. But this is not enough: we must
walk in the Spirit.
JOB 32
A great change takes place. The three comforters have said all
they can. Job too has said a lot, although they have arrived
nowhere. But God is ready with a new man. Hadn't Job been asking
that there might be someone who could come between God and him?
(chapter 9:33) God has a man. God is always ready, but He is so
wise, He knows we have to talk ourselves out.
The man's name is Elihu. In him we can get a little glimpse of
another Man. The One who has really come between God and us. Read
1 Timothy 2:5 to see Who He is. Elihu is very careful to explain
that he is just an ordinary man, and a young one at that. (The
Lord Jesus always took a low place too). He takes a long time to
get started speaking, (the whole chapter). When he starts, you
will see that he knows God a lot better than the others, including
Job.
#661
The two great activities of a saint are faith and love, both
occupied outside myself: faith to count on the One who loves me,
and love to think of and serve those whom He loves.
JOB 33
Notice something new in verse 4. For the first time in the book
of Job we read of the Spirit of God (once in 26:4, but not spelt
with a capital "S"). When the Spirit of God speaks through a
person, it no longer makes any difference whether they are young
or old. This young man is speaking as guided by the Holy Spirit of
God... the secret of his power... the secret of power in any
believer's life.
There is always a great difference between the man who speaks
what God tells him to speak, and the man (no matter how clever)
who speaks his own thoughts. This is what we can see in the book
of Job up to this point. The other friends were speaking their own
thoughts, and so was Job! (see verse 9 of yesterday's chapter).
The world is becoming darker each day because the people are
listening to "great men" and not God's Word. Throughout this
chapter we notice how nicely Elihu speaks. He is not boasting, but
speaks with confidence... with grace and truth.
Job 33:8-11 Elihu was a good listener, and good listeners have
good memories. Elihu repeats what Job had said.
Job 33:17-30 A very important lesson in these verses. (We can
apply them to our own life as believers in the Lord Jesus. Take a
minute to read verse 7 of chapter 36. The Lord Jesus never takes
His eyes off each believer today. But that doesn't mean that He
lets us get away with our careless, disobedient doings.) Yet Job
was the most upright man on the earth. So what is wrong with Job?
His problem was that he was thinking that he was pretty good. If
Job had bowed his heart before God, he would not have had these
troubles. So we all need to learn that the Lord loves us too much
to let us do our own will.
#662
The word of God is the chisel by which the lines of Christ are
formed in me!
JOB 34
Yesterday Elihu was speaking to Job. Today he speaks to the men
about Job. In these few words, Elihu gives us a glorious view of
God. How different from what the others, including Job, had said
about God.
Job 34:29 A grand verse! God is not as other men are! Are we
growing to know our Father better and better? He surely is a
loving Father.
Job 34:32 Another wonderful verse. Our conscience is touched.
"If I have done iniquity." The fault didn't lie with God. It lay
deep in the heart of Job. He had been trying to be good! But God
had a better way!
Job 34:35 Elihu is a faithful man. God's men are not afraid to
speak the truth. They never will be popular in this world. Job's
conscience was being touched.
#663
The fruit of the Spirit cannot be manufactured in our own
strength. Only the life of Christ within can produce this fruit.
JOB 35
Elihu speaks plainer still, and Job becomes smaller and
smaller. Elihu turns the thoughts of all heavenward. Don't we all
feel pretty small when we gaze into the heavens on a clear
star-lit night? Read verses 5-10. Aren't they a great help to see
the greatness of God? God sees everything and He saw right down
into the heart of Job. But our thoughts are being turned up to
God, not down to Job. When we look up, we learn.
#664
Show me a heart that is watching for Christ, and I will show
you a pair of hands occupied for Him in some way or another.
JOB 36
Job 36:1-3 God was the centre of Elihu's thoughts. His eye was
on God. Job had his eye on himself, (the cause of all Job's
trouble).
Job 36:3 It is grand when we follow this verse in our life.
Job 36:4 The closer we walk with God, the wiser we are. Elihu
had perfect confidence that he was speaking God's truth.
Job 36:5-17 Remember that you are reading the Old Testament.
The Lord Jesus Christ had not yet come to earth. God was still
testing people to see if they would obey. Never mix Christianity
with the religion of the Jews. But we believers can learn much
from the Old Testament. We, Christians, quickly and easily get out
of communion with the Lord, get impatient, irritable,
fault-finding, judging everyone but ourselves and all this goes on
until God takes us in hand, by methods He knows to be best, and
brings us back to Him. (We never can be lost, but we sure can get
unhappy). This is what we are learning from Job, even although Job
knew nothing about salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Job 36:7-12 Here is a serious warning. A person might be so
unwilling to submit to God that it would result in his death. In 1
Cor. 11:29-31, there is the same statement, and don't forget that
this latter one was in the day of grace, the Christian era. Our
sins would be forgiven but what sorrow it would bring!
Job 36:18 We cannot be careless with God.
Job 36:26 God never really was known by man until the Lord
Jesus came to earth.
Job 36:26-33 Elihu keeps reminding them of the greatness of
God, so that they would have true brokenness of heart, and
humbleness of mind. Job had not yet come to this.
#665
No service is worthy of Him if it is not done in humiliation.
JOB 37
Job 37:1-3 Wonderful description of the greatness of God. How
little we realize it.
Job 37:14 Job was told to stand still and listen and consider!
Three steps, wonderful instruction for us.
Job 37:15-24 Elihu asks five staggering questions. Do they make
you feel small?
Job 37:21 How grand a secret is hidden here for us who live in
the day of grace! Jesus Christ is the light which is hidden in the
darkness. In our natural (unsaved) state we did not see that
bright light.
Job 37:24 None clever of heart shall see Him! Unless we see
God's holiness and heart of love, we will be thinking of how good
we are. These are the last words of Elihu.
All the talking by these five men comes to an end. Now GOD is
going to have something to say! Be prepared to hear wonderful
words!
#666
Nearness to Christ would keep us from sectarianism - the most
natural weed of the human heart.
JOB 38
God Himself speaks! What will He say? Job has said that God
would not take the trouble to speak to him (9:32 and 19:7, 23:8,9
29:5, 30:20,21 and 31:35 and many more). We know how much God is
interested for God has told us all we need to know! Anything else
is merely the inquisitiveness of the human mind. God reviews His
works of creation as an example of His power and wisdom. This
surely will make Job see his smallness.
We cannot take any particular verses and speak about them. You
should read the whole passage as one grand and glorious message
from the very mouth of God Himself. (We would have thought that
God would have spoken like this when He told of creation in
Genesis, chapter 1, but He reserves it for one single man, Job).
#667
We need to be watchful against boasting; we need to be still in
the presence of God, for there is much independence everywhere.
JOB 39
Could any words in our language make us feel smaller? These
four chapters give us one of the greatest views of God's wisdom
and power to be found anywhere in the Bible. All this is necessary
for Job (and us) to see. And for us it is all the more wonderful,
for it makes us realize what glory the Lord Jesus laid aside to
become a Man, and suffer all the shame and insults by the
creatures His blessed hands had made!
#668
God has given us His Word and Holy Spirit because He wants the
world to see us in the same way He sees us, which is looking like
Jesus.
JOB 40
Job 40:1-3 All the wonderful words of the Lord are having their
effect on Job. We pray that the same effect may be had on each one
of us as we read too. Job is beginning to be broken. What a
wonderful place for the believer to be brought! Speechless before
God!
Job 40:6-24 But the Lord knew that more was needed to bring Job
completely to the end of himself.
Job 40:15 Perhaps this is the hippopotamus.
#669
Self revelation precedes divine revelation.
JOB 41
Job 41:1-9 Possibly, this is a crocodile. Job would have to say
"not me" to every one of these questions. But God is leading up to
the next verse.
Job 41:10 If no one is able to meet a mere animal, who is able
to stand before God? What a question!
Job 41:11 God controls everything.
Job 41:12-34 God proceeds to describe the mighty power of an
animal. The description is frightening. The words have their
effect on Job, may they work the same way on us. May they open our
eyes to see our smallness, and God's greatness. God has finished
speaking, and now we come to the great moment in Job's life.
#670
Let us be careful that we don't get out of the soul rest in
seeking further blessing. God cannot work while we are anxious -
even about our spiritual experiences. Let us take Him at His Word,
and leave the fulfillment of it to Him.
JOB 42
Job 42:1-4 Job is a humbled man! Gone are all thoughts of
himself.
Job 42:5-6 Just few words. But they are the most important
words he ever uttered. (When we believers are brought down so low
that we utter them, we are on the way to a full, and rich and
happy Christian life). Just read those words again. (We hear of
the Lord when we get saved, but our lives are only given to Him
when we get our eyes opened to see His beauty and
all-sufficiency).
Job's new thoughts of God are quickly connected to new thoughts
about himself. (What a contrast to the views of Job we get in
29:11). Job took a long time to get to this position (we too). God
loves us too much to let us go on in our old careless way. Seldom
is a believer brought down as low as Job, to see how vile he or
she really is. This can only be experienced by coming into God's
presence. Can we say "wherefore I abhor myself?" Our humbled
spirit will show it in our life, if we have experienced some of
it.
Supposing God had stopped at the end, what would be the use of
the Book? Job might have said, "Well, when everything was
prospering I was eyes to the blind (29:15) and when things were
rough I was patient". That would have been the worst situation.
But it wasn't what happened. Even though his friends were entirely
wrong by thinking that this world was an example of the just
government of God, Job suddenly realizes what he really is, and so
we have verse 6.
Job 42:7-17 Job's thoughts turn to his friends. He even prays
for them! And when he did this, God acted for him, and gave him
double of everything he had before! Happy Job. (Happy we, if we
have been humbled to see ourselves as God sees us. Then our eyes
will be opened and we shall be able to say, "thank God that He
ever put me through the trials"). Has the Book of Job been a help?
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